But it had been comparatively child's play to bring the count to Paris;
the real difficulty was to keep him there. Nothing was more likely than
that, deprived of the active exercise and the fresh air he enjoyed in
the country, he should miss his many occupations and duties, and either
succumb to weariness, or seek refuge in dissipation. His wife foresaw
this difficulty, and looked for an object that might give the count
abundant employment and amusement.

Already before leaving home she had dropped in his mind the seed of
that passion, which, in a man of fifty, can take the place of all
others,--ambition. Thus he came to Paris with the secret desire and the
hope of becoming a leader in politics, and making his mark in some great
affair of state.

The countess however, aware of the dangers which beset a man who
ventures upon such slippery ground, determined first to examine the
condition of things so as to be able to warn him in time. Fortunately
her fortune and her name were of great service to her in this
enterprise. She managed to assemble at her house all the celebrities of
the day. Her relations helped her; and soon her Wednesdays and Saturdays
became famous in Paris. People exerted themselves to the utmost to
obtain an invitation to her state dinners, or her smaller parties on
Sundays. Her house in Varennes Street was looked upon as neutral ground,
where political intrigues and party strife were alike tabooed. The
countess spent a whole winter in making her observations.

The world, seeing her sit modestly by her fireside, thought she was
wholly occupied with her pretty daughter, Henrietta, who was always
playing or reading by her side. But she was all the time listening, and